History repeats itself, always. In the 2016 Formula 1 season, Red Bull started the year with a driver line-up of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, while its younger sister, Toro Rosso, started with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, both under contract with the Austrian energy drink brand.
After four races, just before the Spanish GP, the team made the decision to promote the Dutchman, then 18 years old, to the first team and demote Kvyat to the second team. Verstappen's first appearance with Red Bull, at the Barcelona Circuit, resulted in a victory and the belief that Helmut Marko's bold move had been the right one.
Eight years later, KTM, sponsored from top to bottom by Red Bull, started the MotoGP season with official riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller, while the satellite team, GasGas Tech3, is made up of Spaniards Augusto Fernandez and Pedro Acosta , both drivers of the Mattighofen brand, which pays their contracts.
After two and a half Grands Prix, the impact of Acosta, this year's debutant in MotoGP, is already taking on dimensions comparable to the debuts of great phenomena such as Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez.
In the first two races of the year Acosta achieved a 9th place in Qatar and a podium in Portimao (3rd), with an 8th and 7th place in the Sprints. This Saturday, in Austin, the Spaniard placed 4th. So, in the five races in which he took part, three of which were Sprints, he finished ahead of Binder in three and ahead of Miller in four. In the overall World Championship ranking, the South African is 3rd with 42 points, Acosta is 6th with 34 and Miller 9th with 19.
That's what numbers are about. But the sensations are even stronger, because after the Qatar race, in which Binder achieved two second places, the #33 was never able to beat the Spaniard and, due to the pressure he is subjecting him to, he fell into the Sprint of Portimao and yesterday he only managed to place 12th place, after being in Q1 and finishing qualifying in 17th place.
Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
And if we talk about sensations and go back to the beginning of the text, when Verstappen was promoted in 2016 to the Red Bull first team at the age of 18, one year younger than Acosta is now. In that season he had contested four races with Toro Rosso, in Australia (10th), Bahrain (6th), China (8th) and Russia (8th), with worse numbers than Acosta, but with a similar feeling: that of being faced with a potential world champion.
Can KTM change riders?
As far as regulations go, nothing stops KTM from making the decision to move Acosta to the first team and move one of its current factory riders, Binder or Miller, to GasGas Tech3. Furthermore, in terms of technical staff there wouldn't be too many problems, as it is the official structure that manages Pedro's garage in the GasGas garage. Only the red polo shirt should be changed for the orange one.
The problem, and probably the reason that will push KTM to be patient and wait for the end of the season to make the change, is due to commercial commitments and human relationships. First of all with Miller, who would probably be the chosen one. A driver who is in his second year with the team but who is much loved by the Austrian manufacturer. The Australian's contract expires at the end of the season, unlike Binder who renewed his contract until the end of 2026, so a change at the end of 2025 would not be too traumatic for the Townsville driver.
Secondly, and not least, by Hervé Poncharal, owner of the Tech3 team and president of IRTA, the MotoGP teams association, since 2006. The Frenchman is one of the most respected, honest and long-standing team principals in the paddock, so dismantling his lineup mid-season would be difficult, especially in terms of managing sponsors and commercial commitments. We should also know what the pilot's agent, Albert Valera, thinks of him, as he managed to bring Acosta to the current situation, in which the boy is absolutely master of his destiny.
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Having said that, in sport results are king and we must also understand the way of being, thinking and acting of the Austrian mentality, which is not usually carried away by sentimentality, which leads to not excluding at all a maneuver similar to that that Red Bull did with Verstappen.
In fact, the company producing canned drinks did not put its name on the GasGas Tech3 motorcycles and suits last year with Augusto and Pol Espargaró, but this year, with the arrival of Acosta, it was quick to put the own logo clearly visible on the motorbike and on the riders' clothing.
What doesn't make sense is that the contract payer, KTM, is nowhere to be seen. History always repeats itself, remember. The next MotoGP Grand Prix, in two weeks, is the Spanish Grand Prix, the fourth of the season, which Jorge Lorenzo predicted would be Pedro's first victory. Will it be with GasGas or with KTM?
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